As much as I hate AD kennen, he's really good top lane.

IMO kennen is best with a few ad runes and maybe 1 dorans blade. Makes his harass a huge *****. Although going ad kennen completely is just no.

His base ad and aspd and their scaling are pretty **** high vs other ADs and the fact his autoattack is 575 which is only beaten by Cait, Ashe, Kog with W up, and a levelled Trist. Main thing he lacks is a strong steroid.

To be honest, I'd prefer an Ashe over an AD Kennen in terms of CC, a Kog over AD Kennen for poke, or an MF/Graves for a lane bully. There are simply other champions that do his jobs better. As AP however, this is not as true. Sure, it's alright, but it's a very niche pick that is difficult to justify.

AD Kennen is pretty much unbeatable in laning phase because of the amount of stuns he can put out. Afterwards, he's kind of useless because both his ulti and his dash requires you to be in melee range, which is pretty much the equivalent of holding up a "focus me" sign if you decide to use them. Also, once you're dead, your team's screwed over because you don't have an AD carry anymore.

AD Kennen is a very strong build (if done correctly, of course). Generally, AP is the better build for him. However, if you're lacking an AD carry, he's strong enough that he can run in a 2v1 lane. I think it's just a matter of people thinking you can only play a champion "the way <insert pro-player>'s guide says."

Again: Is it his best build? Not really. Is it a viable build? Hells yes.

I get this same kind of reaction when i play Nasus AP, he dominates almost every one top or mid with his incredible sustain, though late game in 5v5 he is not always a dominating force, the enemies top or mid has starved for farm and spent a lot of time dead. It's not always possible or a good idea to play him like that but there are times...

EDIT: I forgot to mention 3v3's, Nasus as AP > enemy team.

AD kennen does good damage compared to other AD carries, and his stun is more reliable (Q+W passive + W active), but AP kennen is overall better.

reasons are:
-high range
-good/best scalings compared to other ad (attack speed, ad/lvl)
-mana less
-PRETTY HIGH DMG ALL GAME STAGES (early/midgame with his spells)
-more durable than other ad
-brings aoe/single stun
-can chase/escape really good
-easy farming, even when having hard time in lane due his q
-he is fun to play


he is really nice. his damage is lower than say a vayne lategame, but he brings lots of utilty and despite people saying his ult doesnt deal dmg when he goes ad, its 630 base dmg to the same target at lvl 16, which is quite nice, especially if you consider it hitting multiple people.

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im not saying ad kennen is best, i kind of agree ap kennen is stronger, but ad kennen isnt bad and is absolutely viable